SOCCP: Between the Lines
by Brunetta6
Summary: A collection of drabbles based off my popular fic "Slightly Overdone Chocolate Chip Pancakes." Anything and everything from humor to romance to angst to action! It all depends on you, though… cuz they're YOUR requests! X3
1. -GUIDELINES-

**For those who are coming from SOCCP, thanks for being here! As for those who clicked just for the heck of it, awesome to see you, too! =3**

* * *

**INTRODUCTION & GUIDELINES**

This is a drabble fic based on Brunetta6's (my) fanfiction "Slightly Overdone Chocolate Chip Pancakes," and takes place in the content and/or timeskip(s) therein. You can read this by itself, sure! If you want to read SOCCP for a better experience reading this – or even pitch me a prompt via review or personal PM – that's even better! But if you don't, here's the summary of SOCCP:

_"17-year-old otaku Vera Rosethorne is in full swing at her first anime con, when she suddenly and inexplicably falls into the world of her favorite anime, One Piece. Which would be really cool… except for one thing. She can't speak Japanese!"_

That's right. Language barrier. And **now** you want to read it. **=D**

**...oOo…**

But before we dive in, I would like to set some guidelines as the author. In your request, I would like you to state...

**1. The prompt**

**2. The genre (if you have a preference)**

**2. The characters (Yes, they can be non-Strawhats!)**

**4. And if you want to see anything in particular, like a situation, conversation, place, or event, BE SPECIFIC. I like people who know what they want. ^_^**

Last of all, I'm flexible. I'll write pretty much anything if you ask. Slash, nakamaship, angst, even mild ecchi or sour limes if you ask nicely. But I won't write yaoi, yuri, lemons, or rape scenes. Those you'd have to write by yourself. But other than that, you're clear. And… well, I guess that's it!

**.**

* * *

**Click below and send me your request! Let the games begin!**


	2. Click It!

**Chibi bunny ftw! (\_/)**

**ENJOY.**

* * *

**Title: "Click It!"  
****Request by: CrazyTomboy679  
****Primary Characters: Strawhats P. and Vera R.  
****Rating: T  
****Genre: Humor  
****Warnings: Language, suggestive dialogue, and references to drugs and hard ZoSan.**

**Summary: When Vera was still only the "English-speaking sky stalker" chained up in the brig, the Strawhats explore a little further into her iPod to find out how much she knows about them… a misadventure which will leave more than a few of them scarred for life.**

**Arc: Introductory Arc (Ch3)  
L****ocation: Franky's Workshop, Thousand Sunny**

**.oOo.**

"_Frankyyyyy_…"

The Strawhat shipwright groaned, rubbing his thick neck as he trudged back up the stairs from the lower levels, back towards his workshop where the rest of his nakama were waiting. He had just secured that weird little sister in the brig. Honestly, he had expected more of a fight out of her. But no, she had just sat there like a sack of potatoes while Franky chained her up, placed a mini-Transponder Snail on the ceiling for surveillance, and left… easy as that.

"I guess I should be relieved," Franky thought aloud to himself.

He pushed open the door to his workshop and entered. Eight pairs of eyes turned to him – well, Zoro only had one eye and Brook had none, but whatever. "All right!" he announced, jerking a giant red thumb behind him. "Little sis is secure."

"Thank goodness!"

Usopp and Chopper both tackled him, sobbing in relief. "We thought you weren't gonna make it back…!" the sharpshooter wailed.

"_FRANKYYY_!"

"It's okay!" their shipwright crowed, striking a pose. "I'm just super like that!"

Franky aimed a sideways looked at Zoro as the two starry-eyed boys let go of his legs. "She was actually really tame," he commented. The cyborg walked over to the giant machine in the center of the room – where the girl's mysterious slip of a little black device had been plugged in. "Considering she fell out of the sky in a flash of light, then avoided one of Zoro's attacks and sent our marimo swordsman flying in the same move!"

Said "marimo swordsman's" hackles went up. "It was a fluke!" he snarled.

Sanji grinned trollishly from the corner, oblivious to the thin stream of blood that trickled from a prick in the middle of his forehead. "Whatever helps your ego," the blonde smirked. "Shitty kenshi."

As expected, Zoro lunged at the cook. Nami and Usopp went to break it up; meanwhile, Franky paused beside his machine. A little yellow hand popped out of his bigger red one, rubbing his triple chins thoughtfully as he stared at it.

Luffy sprung up next to him. "So?" he asked, propping his chin on the machine. "What is it?"

"Who knows?!" Usopp howled. All kinds of scary images raced through his head. "It could be a remote that opens the portal to another dimension, or the transmitter for her voodoo magic, or a communicator to her demon boss!"

"_Scary_…!" Chopper squealed.

Nami whacked them both. "Will you quit letting your imagination run wild, Usopp?!" the navigator simmered. "That's completely ridiculous!"

Robin nodded. "She's right, Long Nose-san," the archeologist said calmly.

"See?" Nami sniffed and crossed her arms, seeming satisfied. "Even Robin agrees with me."

"It's far more likely this thing _is_ her boss."

Usopp and Chopper screamed like schoolgirls and clung to each other, trembling in fear. Nami whirled on the other woman. "DON'T SAY SCARY CRAP LIKE THAT WHEN YOU KNOW IT'S NOT TRUE!"

Robin chuckled. "All right, all right."

Franky dropped his hand and circled back around to the keyboard. "Well, whatever it is, the Franky Workshop's _Superrrrr_ Computer will find out!" he boasted. He tapped a few buttons, opening the screen and selecting an input option. A signal traveled along from the monitor to its intimidating PC; it cracked the iPod pitiful password ("p-a-s-s-w-o-r-d" all lower caps) in less than a millisecond, then sent a live feed back along the wires to the monitor. The wallpaper flashed up on both screens. "What do you want to look for – GAH?!"

* * *

Deep in the brig, Vera sighed gustily.

She clinked the chains over her head, bored; she could be now, since she'd finally established that all this was a hallucination brought on by accidentally inhaled crack.

_**"Hey!"**_

_**Vera glanced back out of instinct, then did a double take.**_

_**At first glance, it looked like a crooked cloud of some type right in the middle of the convention hall; but upon closer examination, it was a humungous white cloth draped over a haphazard wooden frame. Whatever was inside, there was no guessing. A Japanese man, maybe in his early-late thirties, was sitting in a plastic chair next to the entrance.**_

_**There was no one else in the guy's line of sight, but Vera asked nonetheless: "Me?"**_

_**He nodded. "Can you help me with something?"**_

_**Now, Vera had read the convention handbook a thousand times in preparation for this trip. Rule #1: At an anime con, don't associate yourself with guys you don't know! There could be weird and perverted people at these things.**_

_**But she was kind of curious of what was in that tent.**_

_**"What do you need help with?" Vera called, not retreating but not wanting to step closer.**_

_**The man smiled sheepishly. "I have been at this attraction for hours. And I am hungry." He gestured at the massive, slapdash assembly behind him. "Will you watch this thing while I go get lunch, please?"**_

_**Vera looked at the structure.**_

_**She offered a smile. "How much you paying?"**_

_**The guy laughed. He seemed to have a good sense of humor; Vera felt a bit more at ease. "So that is a yes?"**_

_**She scratched her head. "Aw sure, why not?"**_

_**The man stood up. "Wonderful! I swear, I was about to eat my own foot." Vera watched his hands as she passed him to take his seat. He seemed to be slightly amused, chuckling at the Monster Plushie Trio peeking out of her purse, but he didn't attempt to steal anything. Still, the brunette kept her guard up; one couldn't be too careful against pickpockets. "Thank you very much. I will be back in a few minutes."**_

_**Vera sat down. Placing her bag underneath the plastic chair, she pulled her iPod out of a back pocket and scrolled through her copious playlists, looking for a good song to start the shuffle.**_

_**"Oh."**_

_**Vera turned down the volume out of habit. "Huh? What?"**_

_**He pointed at the tent. "If you want, you can take a look inside. I think you'd like it."**_

_**The brunette raised an eyebrow at him. She was curious, but she wasn't sure if she liked that smile. It was like he knew something she didn't. "What do you mean, I'd 'like' it?" she asked.**_

_**But he was already walking away, rubbing his belly and mumbling in Japanese.**_

_**Vera jabbed a random song – "Derezzed" by Daft Punk – stabbed at the Shuffle option, and leaned back in her chair with a huff, tossing her heavy, wild mane so she wouldn't sit on it. The crackle of thunder at the beginning of the song eased through her earbuds; not so loud it overwhelmed everything else, like she did with her party shuffle. Nah, this was pensive volume.**_

_**"What do you mean, I'll 'like' it?" she repeated to herself.**_

_**She glanced at the entrance.**_

_**It didn't look very dark inside. After all, that sheet wasn't thick enough to block out all of the convention hall's florescent lighting. The girl leaned a little farther over, trying to look deeper… nope. Just dark enough. She couldn't see what was inside from out here.**_

_**Vera glared up at the structure, like it was purposefully obstructing her. **_**This thing is taunting me.**

_**She stared down the entrance for a whole minute. "Derezzed" pulsed through her brain, the techno chords clearing a path through any fuzzy neurons; finally, as the song wound down to its last thump, Vera realized had no choice but to face the truth.**_

_**"Aw, screw it."**_

_**She had to peek.**_

_**The brunette pulled out her earbuds, wound them around the flat, mirror-black music player, put them in their case, and stuffed it into her bag. She pushed the three heads of her Monster Plushie Trio inside, too, and zipped it all up. Couldn't have them falling out. With that done, Vera bent over, her brown eyes straining; making one last attempt to discern something – anything – inside the structure. As she half-hoped, it proved fruitless.**_

_**So she straightened, took a bracing breath, and strode inside.**_

_**Her first impression was that of color, or rather, a lack of it. The lighting that was so hard, pale, and revealing outside filtered through the sheet to create a dim, depressingly grey half-light. Vera blinked as her eyes adjusted, then suddenly sneezed. The air was positively stagnant, laden with dust and… something else. She sniffed, trying to identify the scent, but just ended up inhaling more dust. Vera sneezed again, eyes watering. "W-Well, this is crap!" she coughed. "There's nothing here!"**_

_**Shielding her nose and mouth, she made for the exit. "That guy was just playing mind games w–!"**_

_**Suddenly, the floor lurched to the right.**_

_**"GAH!" Vera staggered, then flailed to the left as she overcompensated for her weight. Her foot slammed down on the concrete floor and the girl's arms pinwheeled, very slowly for a moment… but finally she found her balance. There she waited, lungs heaving despite the moist, salty air as she anticipated another lurch.**_

_**Hold on.**_

_**Vera tasted the air. Wet. Salty. Sea air?**_

_**"What the h–?"**_

_**Was all she had time to say before the floor yawed violently away from her a second time. Vera yelped as her legs were lifted, then slammed to the concrete again. Her knees buckled. She threw her hands out in front of her, barely avoiding a broken nose when the next concussion came.**_

**What's happening?!**

_**The tearing of fabric drew her panicked eyes to the ceiling. A whipping gale had torn the structure's cloth covering to so many large shreds, letting in unexpected sunbeams that pierced her retinas like golden javelins. She felt her pupils contract painfully. Multicolored dots swarmed across her vision… blinding her just as the floor heaved again. A shriek tore its way out of Vera's throat as she felt herself tossed three feet off the floor, then hurled back down again with a bruising thud.**_

**OW**_**. **_

_**She'd feel that in the morning. Vera pulled her face off the floor, cringing. What was this, some kind of freak tornado?!**_

_**All of a sudden, the floor gave one horrifying shudder. The mother of all foreboding rumbles that she'd felt all the way down to her marrow.**_

_**She tensed, eyes wide.**_

**OH**_** CRAP.**_

_**Then it came. Vera blacked out for a split second… then suddenly, she was flying a hundred feet in the air, feeling like she'd been hit by a pile driver. The freak tempest twisted her long hair into knots. The sunlight hurt her eyes. The sky was way too blue.**_

_**Then suddenly, in that split second when she reached the top of her arc, and the momentum of her sudden and violent flight ran out…**_

_**Vera blinked. And then, she could only gaze in wonder. She was spinning gently in a clear periwinkle sky, a mild sea breeze floating through her hair, with a beaming golden sun that warmed her cheeks like the caress of heaven. It was lovely. Beautiful. Paradise.**_

_**But what goes up, must come down.**_

_**She had never hated Isaac Newton more than that moment, when she turned away from that divine sun and felt gravity hook its leaden fingers into her. That concrete floor looked very hard. And very far away.**_

_**Vera opened her mouth, sucked in a breath, and screamed **_**bloody****murder**_**.**_

_**Wind was everywhere. It tore the cry from her lips. It billowed through her hair and slashed raw every inch of exposed skin. The concrete rushed up at her at an alarming rate. Vera knew in a matter of moments, she was going to become an extremely messy pancake on the convention hall floor. But suddenly, that unforgiving grey surface wavered…**_

_**Then rippled, and turned blue.**_

_**FlaBOOM.**_

_**Vera landed with a concussive impact into salty ocean water. Deep azure depths filled her vision, pierced by dusky sunrays that fluttered with glowing white impurities. Kinds of fish that she didn't recognize swam lazily through the silent sea, a few of them coming over to examine this strange denizen that had made such a disruptive entrance on their quiet world. Every inch of her body ached, and the stinging salt water threatened to loosen her contacts.**_

_**Vera closed her eyes against the curious little fish. She'd never passed out before, but her brain felt like it was being sucked through a straw. And her limbs felt oh, so heavy.**_

**I'll sleep… just for a second…**

_**But right before everything faded to black, Vera's fading senses heard a second splash. She opened her eyes tiredly. Something big had entered the water; a large, brightly colored silhouette entered her line of vision. It was flashing some kind of Morse code.**_

_**With nipple lights.**_

And at her first anime con, too!

_Lunch, indeed! _the girl thought, viciously tossing her voluminous, sweet-brown curls_ Screw him! When I come off this high in a couple minutes I'm gonna go straight to con security and he's not gonna have enough time to say "I'm innocent," let alone snort down a hot dog!_

Vera rattled her iron bonds again, angrier this time. Her parents were never going to let her go to another convention after this, and she would _never_ hear the end of it from her overbearing, overlogical medical-student stick in the mud of a big sister – Vange.

And worse, all she had to entertain herself was musical chains. Waiting wouldn't have been so bad if the crack Strawhats hadn't taken her iPod!

Suddenly, she groaned at the concept. She really hoped they weren't messing with it. Her life was on that little machine; her contacts, her social security number, her anime and manga, her pictures, her anime _and_ manga pictures… yes, even if OP was her favorite entertainment media of all time – with AMC's The Walking Dead in a close second – she wasn't _**just**_ a One Piece fan.

Her wallpaper was the Hellsing "ALUCARD: Cause if we give Buffy the job, Edward Cullen would die clean and quickly. We don't want that" meme, after all.

* * *

"IT'S HEREEEEE!" Usopp squealed. "IT _IS_ HER BOSS! _ DUCK_ _AND_ _COVER_!"

"What?!" Luffy sprung in front of the main monitor and threw up his fists at the image. "What the hell are you doing on my ship?!" he demanded of it. "You wanna fight?! Bring it!"

"Relax, Captain-san," Robin said as Franky got up from the floor, rubbing his shaven crown in embarrassment. "It's just a picture."

That wasn't to say she wasn't unnerved by it as well; the archeologist looked cautiously back at the supercomputer's monitor. Past the steely mouth of a pistol aimed straight at them… and into the intimidating stare of an unnatural, scarlet-eyed man with teeth like a carnivorous monster and hair black as night, dressed in a dark crimson hat and coat. Strange lettering filled the black space below him, lettering that seemed strangely familiar to Robin but not familiar enough that she could decipher the words. _It must be a warning, _she realized. _To frighten off the faint-hearted individuals that attempt to break into this device. Incredible…_

* * *

Vera giggled evilly. She switched her wallpaper every week between that one and the Photoshopped beagle puppy meme "WHO'S AWESOME? You're awesome," just to keep possible intruders on their toes.

* * *

After a couple tense minutes of that scary image staring down the Strawhats from the barrel of a gun, Franky finally found out he could make it go away by dragging a red bar across the bottom of the screen.

"There we go!"

The Mugiwaras all crowded around their shipwright as the warning vanished and another screen appeared. This one was full of small squares – each with a different color, pattern, and label in the same bizarre language. Another bar was at the bottom, with more icons and text.

Franky clicked on one shaped like a camera. "What's this?"

All of them leaned closer… of course, none of them could read the caption _MANGA_.

* * *

Leaning her head back against the wall, Vera drilled through the rest of her favorite fandom pictures… hey, it was one way to entertain herself. Along with a few choice memes and deviants from more obscure animes like Kimi no Todoke, Kaichou wa Maid-Sama, Air Gear, and Angel Beats, there were her other favorite "SERAS VICTORIA: Seras does not like sparkly gay wannabe vampires" and "ALUCARD: Setting the standard for psychotic vampires since 2001" Hellsing memes…

* * *

Robin pressed her lips into a grim line, tension evident in the air as her nakama were given two more warnings – both with fierce and berserk vampiric features, layers of dark color, and glowing red eyes – when, finally, the photos began to dissipate into warmer and happier moods. Robin was slightly taken aback by the light, the beauty in the wake of such startling evil; she told herself it had to be a trick, and tried to keep her guard up… but as Franky clicked past photo after photo, the tension over the Strawhats lifted, leaving a merry and lighthearted mood while they giggled, laughed, commented, oo-ed and ahhh-ed at each picture.

Click. "Rockets on skates?!" Luffy gaped, amazed. "That's awesome!"

Click. "Oh, angel wings!" Brook fawned. "How lovely!"

Click. "Wow! What kind of gun is _that_?!" Usopp spazzed. "I want one!"

Click. "MAIDS! Maids everywhere~!"

_SMACK_! "Baka…!" Nami growled, fist steaming over the lump on Sanji's head.

"M-Mellorine…"

* * *

A couple Bleach pictures…

* * *

Usopp raised an eyebrow. "Dang! That guy's sword is bigger than his body."

Chopper jumped to try and see. "Ooooo… sugoi!"

_It looks like a giant kitchen knife,_ Zoro thought. _I could take him._

* * *

Obviously dozens of the awesomest One Piece screenshots EVAR! Like when Luffy was spewing food after having his stuffed cheek poked by Shirahoshi, the first Red Hawk, the Jet Gatling that defeated Lucci, Nami impaling that CP9 biatch with lightning, Sanji turning to stone (both times), several of the Oscar-worthy scene with Usopp and Chopper when Sanji almost died on the Sunny and was revived by ero-power! It just went on and on~!

* * *

Click.

Luffy blinked. "…What?"

On the monitor, there had appeared a familiar person. It was him – with the steaming red skin of his Gear Second, sweatsoaked and blood-matted hair flying every which way in the wake of a thousand sonic booms. His mouth wide in a furious war cry. In the foreground, CP9's Lucci. The background was stone and broken boxes; white and green masonry.

"Luffy."

"Hm?" The rubber captain looked over at Nami. His navigator leaned over – and pointed at the screen, cinnamon brown eyes turned questioningly to his dark ones.

"Is that… Enies Lobby?" she asked.

Luffy nodded, brows furrowed in confusion. "Yeah, right before I blew that pigeon bastard away," he replied. He pressed a finger to his temple; his face turned pink as he searched his memory. "Nnnnn –! But I'm _sure_ no one was behind me who coulda taken a picture!"

Click.

Chopper's eyes widened in recognition at the next photo – a lovestruck statue that looked a lot like Sanji, the Mermaid Princess sparkling and radiant in the background. "Hey, I was there!" the tiny doctor exclaimed, pointing his hoof frantically. "That happened on Fishman Island!"

Sanji glanced upward, a pervy blush coating his cheeks at the memory. "Ahh! Mermaid Princess~!"

Click. Click. Click.

"Oi, there are more of them!" Franky announced, moving through picture after picture after picture from various moments from the Strawhats' adventures… all the way from before he joined the crew to only a couple weeks ago, when Luffy had blown away Caesar. There were even shots of the Warlord they'd allied themselves with, Trafalgar Law. "A _lot_ more!"

Usopp started to look nervous again. "Wait! So this thing has pictures of us that we never noticed were taken?! That's so creepy!"

"My, my…" Robin thought aloud. "Do all these images represent a true moment from the past?"

Zoro shrugged. "I guess they do."

* * *

Admittedly, sometimes canon images weren't enough to settle Vera's spastic teenage hormones. She'd downloaded some fanart, too, like the first image that popped up on Goggle when she'd typed in "sexy Zoro," KaoriJade's "Roronoa Zoro" from Deviantart…

* * *

Click. Click.

"Oooooooh!"

The swordsman choked. Most of his crewmates grinned trollishly at him: "_What was that, Zoroooo –?"_

"Don't look at me like that! I never posed for that!" Zoro snapped. He crossed his arms, irritated and somewhat embarrassed. "Go to the next one, already!"

* * *

A couple Luffy x Hancock photos.

Vera grinned happily to herself. She was an unabashed shipper of Luffy x Hancock, definitely!

_I mean, LuNa does have its moments in canon,_ she thought, fangiggling. _But come on, Pirate King and Pirate Empress?! Odacchi-sensei __**had**__ to have done that on purpose!_

* * *

Click.

All of the Strawhat's jaws dropped except Robin's, but even _her_ eyebrows shot up. "_**EEEEEEEEH?!"**_

Onscreen, another image had popped up with Luffy as the star. But _this_ time, he had a distinct and dazzling female companion… unmistakably Boa Hancock, the Pirate Empress and Most Beautiful Woman in the World. But that wasn't what had the Strawhat crew so shocked. It was that the fearsome Kujan Shuchibukai was blushing like a schoolgirl, holding up her long, silky midnight hair so that – of all people – their idiot rubber captain could wrap his arms and legs around her voluptuous torso. Latched onto Boa Hancock's hips like… well, a _monkey_!

"What's going on here?!" Luffy yelped, jaw practically on the floor. "How'd they get a picture of _that_?!"

"_THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED?!_" everyone screamed in disbelief.

Click.

"Damn! He's grabbing her boobs in this one!" Franky flashed his captain a thumbs-up. "_Nice_!"

"Now, _that_ I never –"

"BASTARD!"

Any attempt Luffy would have made at defending his innocence was overwhelmed by Sanji's vicious attack, launching fury-fueled kicks that the rubber man could barely avoid let alone counter. "I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU, YOU ASS! DID YOU SAY YOU WERE TRAINING?!"

"I was training!" Luffy yelled, and promptly got a Haki-powered shoe in the face. He flew across the room, bounced off the wall and crashed to the floor.

Sanji lowered his foot and huffed. "That's what you get!"

"OW!"

* * *

Then the brunette stopped suddenly, staring intently into the air as her Inner Fangirl began to ramble. _Then again, Luffy x Shirahoshi is über-kawaii, too, but she's an ancient weapon… Not to mention in order for the One Piece storyline to recycle itself they'd have to have a son and Luffy would have to use Gear Third on his –!_

Vera smacked her head back against the wall. _WOAH, GIRL! Don't even go there!_

Either way, she hadn't been able to stop herself from getting the Luffy x Shirahoshi drawing by "ruricho" off One Piece of Awesome on Tumblr. An itty-bitty little rubber guy stuck in a giant, blushing, tearing-up mermaid's cleavage? Who could resist?!

* * *

Click.

Even Nami was impressed by the boobs on Shirahoshi. "Wow," she commented neutrally. "I never figured you for that type, Luffy. When did that happen?"

The Strawhat captain gaped at the picture. "Haaaaah? But that never happened either! What's going _oooon_–?"

"RUBBER BASTARD!"

Sanji kicked him in the face again. Luffy went flying smack into the wall. Again. Meanwhile, Nami went back to the screen. The archeologist chuckled and did the same; honestly, she was a bit curious now to know what surprise was…

_Click_.

Nami and Robin blinked.

Then they stared.

Then they turned absolutely. Bright. Red.

* * *

She'd even downloaded her favorite ZoSan doujin onto her iPod.

Vera sighed. _But only after I'd downloaded it I realized it was in Japanese! _shegriped_. What a rip…_

* * *

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Luffy whipped around at the sound of Nami's scream. "What?" he demanded, darting back over. He crouched to look at the screen. "What happened –?!"

Both women slapped their hands over his eyes. "_This is not for the eyes of children!_"

Nami stared back at the screen as Luffy wriggled and complained that he wanted to see. Even the pale skin of the normally stoic Robin was the color of a steamed lobster as she sprouted more hands to cover Chopper's eyes.

Sanji – curious now – wandered over with the others. "What is it?" he asked.

He leaned over their shoulders with Brook, Franky, Usopp… and Zoro. And before the girls could stop him, he realized what he was looking at.

In fact, they all did. About the same time.

"_Ah… Zoro –! I'm gonna…!"_

"_M-Me too…"_

"_Nnnnn~! AHH!"_

Sanji let out a strangled noise and collapsed – literally foaming at the mouth.

Zoro gagged, throwing up a little – but he managed to swallow the burning nausea and bellow at the top of his lungs: "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"

Robin was rosy and ambivalent, torn between revulsion and awe. "It's certainly… unique."

Nami, however, was just revolted. "Wow, Sanji-kun," she commented through her teeth, knuckling her brow. She didn't know _what_ to think anymore. "I never figured you for the uke type…"

The blonde twitched on the ground, making sounds like a dying frog.

Brook glanced back. "Nami-san, I believe Sanji-san is dying inside…"

Chopper wheeled around. "Sanji's dying! Where, where, where?!" the tiny doctor yelped. Not seeming to realize Robin's many hands were still over his eyes, the tiny doctor completely panicked and started running in the direction he thought he heard the sound of their cook's duress, but ended up smacking into the wall like a hyperactive pinball. "OW!" He picked himself up and ran in another direction. "_Sanji, where are you_?!"

"Sorry to break it to you, brother," Franky said. The shipwright rubbed his chins, squinting closely at the screen as Chopper spazzed in the background. "But Zoro, man, you are NOT that big."

"Zoro-san!" Brook exclaimed, appalled. "These proportions! They're completely exaggerated! You could sue for this!"

"IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY?!" the swordsman shrieked. "STOP LOOKING OR I'LL CUT YOU, DAMMIT!"

"What? We've seen it all before."

"_It's not like it's real_!" Zoro yelled. He pointed back at the dying cook in the corner, pale as a ghost. "Like that shitty Question could ever do it with a woman, let alone a man!"

Usopp wasn't in much better shape than Sanji. "Let alone you…" the sniper croaked, then passed out just from the shock of hearing the words come out of his own mouth.

Meanwhile, a fire ignited in the depression corner.

"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN, 'COULD?!'" Sanji roared, furious orange flames encompassing his entire body as he bolted upright, getting in Zoro's face.

The crew sweatdropped. _He recovered so quickly…_

"Isn't it obvious?!" Zoro snarled. "You'd die from idiot blood loss before you could even put it in, Mr. NOSEBLEED!"

"_ASSHOLE_!"

The swordsman and the cook lunged at each other, fighting with even more hostility than usual, as if to refuse the blasphemy on that screen with all the power in their bodies. Chopper still screamed, bumping into walls. Luffy's complaints were getting louder and louder as he literally barrel-rolled across the floor trying to get Robin's hands off his eyes. Zoro and Sanji sparred, the sheer ferocity of their battle rattling the workshop – plaster rained down on their nakama's heads, who watched the display with… varying expressions.

* * *

Meanwhile, down in the brig, Vera sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time.

She leaned her head back against the wall… finally deciding to take a nap until she woke up from this dream. Thinking about her otakuism wasn't nearly as fun if she didn't have the source of it.

_Now, if I were in the __**REAL**__ One Piece world… _Vera thought, grinning as she closed her eyes. _Now THAT. Would be awesome._

Completely oblivious that – unbelievable as it seemed – she actually was.

* * *

Nami turned to Franky. "We should run a diagnostic on this machine before we explore any further," she moaned.

"Good idea."

The navigator sighed, glancing back at the chaos wearily as the cyborg hurriedly tapped at the keys on his supercomputer. _I will never be able to watch those two fighting the same way again…_ she thought.

And that was only part of it. Truth was, that day would go down in Nami's logbook as the weirdest one yet… but incredibly, seeing a comic of two of her male nakama going at it like animals in heat faded to the back of her mind in the wake of the coming hours. Even stranger things – a _lot_ of stranger things – were apparently possible, including (unbeknownst to them) watching their own anime, Luffy losing his Devil Fruit powers to go for his first swim in a dozen years, and Zoro getting a shaving cream pat right in the kisser. Needless to say, it was a long, confusing, and exhausting day for all of them, and eventually they all lay in bed. At three o' clock, in the men's quarters, darkness was tangible in the silence – the guys waiting peacefully for sleep to return.

When suddenly, Luffy blinked and sat up.

"Sanji!" he whispered. "What's an uke?"

Everyone's eyes flew open.

_**BAM!**_

**.**

* * *

**A/N: Oh, I had a BALL with this request. First one done, hopefully many more to come! Leave comment below, favorite, follow, or heck… make your own request! And don't forget to check out "Slightly Overdone Chocolate Chip Pancakes" by Brunetta6!**


	3. Niku & Chokoreto

**Wow, this fic is popular! More so than I thought it was gonna be. Even so… DreamAngel2713, I knew a drabble like this was gonna be requested sooner or later! **

**Guess it was sooner. ^/^**

* * *

**Prompt 2**

**Title: "Niku & Chokoreto"  
****Request by: DreamAngel2713  
****Primary Characters: Luffy and Vera R.  
****Rating: K+  
****Genre: Romance/Fluff  
****Warnings: Spoilers from the Wishing Flower Arc, very brief language, and CAUTION OF DEATH BY LUFFY KAWAIINESS.**

**Summary: Monkey D. Luffy has always prided himself on never missing a party, but when our fiesta-loving rubber boy wakes from Chopper's tranquilizer to find himself as Vera's unsuspecting siesta cushion, he discovers that… just this once… missing the party might not have been so bad after all.**

**Arc: Wishing Flower Arc  
****Location: Party at the Security Plaza, Kibo Hana Island**

**.oOo.**

It was a warm, starry night on the island of Kibo Hana. Normally, the summer island was one of the most peaceful and beautiful places in the New World, home to bizarre and diverse wildlife, forests of a thousand colors, and beautiful evenings just like this one… governed not by the Navy, but an elite force of knights and soldiers known as the Gale Dancer's Guard – led by wanted criminal and ex-Marine Kaiser Hideki, wanted criminal and retired street fighter Deiter Marsela – and the Gale Dancer herself; a mysterious, elusive being with powers known to few and understood by even fewer. But tonight, on the night of the annual Wishing Flower Omatsuri, those powers had been put to use defending Kibo Hana Island from an invasion of G5 Marines and the Navy Admiral Borsalino, also known by infamous alias "Kizaru." It had been a fierce battle and blood had been shed on both sides, but despite the interference of another otherworldly force, the islanders had triumphed over near-impossible odds. But then again, they'd had help from some pirates who were well-known veterans at doing just that.

The Mugiwara no Ichimi… and their own otherworldly guest.

"_Ahm sexy and ah know it."_

Vera screamed and threw up her hands, fist pumping with the rest of the locals as LMFAO dropped the bass on "I'm Sexy and I Know It" for the umpteenth time that night. How Franky had managed to hook her iPod up to the island's audio system, she could only guess; but however the pervy cyborg had done it, he _really_ seemed to like this song.

_Well, whatever! _Vera grinned, raking her tousled brown curls out of her face. She was flushed and sweaty and probably smelled like a slaughterhouse – but her eyes were bright and she'd never had so much fun in her life. _I like his song, too. And dang, the Mugiwaras sure know how to throw a party! Things are getting pretty crazy!_

Suddenly, a splotch of blue-and-white caught Vera's eye. _There's even somebody on the roof!_

She squinted. _Does he have a camera?_

Vera stared for a moment long – then shrugged internally, stuck her tongue out, and slapped her booty at the man on the roof. _Maybe he's one of the people who're supposed to make a slideshow, like at prom last year, _she thought. The shutter went off. The brunette smirked and tossed her hair: _At least that'll make a good pictuuuu… WOAH._

She actually staggered as a massive wave of fatigue washed over her; she touched her head, suddenly dizzy.

_Geez. Guess those painkillers Chopper gave me for my hands and arm are finally kicking in._

Vera spared a glanced for her bandaged limbs and gave her cheeks a few quick slaps, but it did nothing to expel the sleepy haze that was settling over her brain. She yawned wide enough to put another hole in the ozone. Then she smacked her lips and looked around; she needed to lay down before she fell down.

Then – passed out by a well and snoring like a chainsaw – her eyes identified a promising siesta cushion.

Vera blinked… then wandered over. _Hey, he's rubber, _she reasoned. _He's gotta be more comfortable than a regular person._

* * *

**.oOo.**

– **A FEW HOURS LATER –**

Luffy's eyes opened with start.

"…Huh?"

The rubber man blinked a few times, disoriented by the quiet and the fact that he was lying on his back. Hadn't he been dancing a second ago? He stared up at the fading stars. Cool, salty air washed over his hot skin in glorious relief; it was still dark, but the eastern skies were starting to turn a silvery grey – the precursor of a strawberry dawn.

Luffy's brow wrinkled in confusion. "What the –?"

Then, it all returned to him in a flash. That glitter bastard's demented kick bursting his appendix, waking up with a row of stitches in his lower belly, then dancing with Vera until Chopper scolded him for moving so wildly just after surgery and stung him in the side with a tranquilizer. "AH!" Luffy yelled. The rubber man scowled, flailing his fists at the sky. "Because of Chopper I missed the party!"

He started to sit up. "Where is he?! I'm gonna kick his –!"

"Mmmm…"

Luffy stopped at the sound of a soft moan, coming from the general area of his torso. He blinked… and looked down.

Vera murmured in her sleep again, slim fingers fisting gently in the red silk of his yukata. Softly curled against him, the young woman buried her face in his chest and opened her lips. An intimate whisper brushed its electric fingers against his bare skin:

"Shut up…"

At this, Luffy braced himself, expecting her to wake up and start scolding him for being too loud – or worse, blame him for whatever reason she was practically on top of him (which he had _no_ _earthly_ _IDEA_ _why_!) – but all she did was murmur a few more unintelligible things, smack the other side of her head against his chest…

"Whoof!"

… And sleep on.

Luffy inhaled cautiously to refill his squashed lungs. _Geez! _he thought. He huffed, staring exasperatedly up at the sky – then raised his eyebrows as something occurred to him.

_Maybe I could push her off! _That was an idea.

But… for some reason, Luffy kinda didn't want to do that.

The Strawhat captain looked down at Vera's face again. She was always smiling or frowning or crying or laughing when she was awake – her wary features always a whirlwind of expression and emotion. Vibrant and sharp as one of Zoro's katana. And that was okay and everything. But now, her face was just the opposite; passive and beautiful and tranquil and unreadable.

She looked so… soft.

On a whim, Luffy touched her hair. _Wow, _he marveled, stroking the warm, knotted length. _She is soft. Really, really soft._

He ran his thumbs over her eyelashes – he really liked the way they brushed her cheekbones like that. _Here, too._

Then, he touched her lips.

_But… especially here…_

Luffy blinked – suddenly noticing that his fingertips were trembling ever so slightly as they felt at her full, silky mouth. And as soon as he noticed that, a swarm of molten butterflies roared up from his stomach, threatening to blow up his body like a hot air balloon. Luffy swallowed hastily to keep them at bay. Still the tingling continued. He took his fingers off her mouth, feeling his own. They didn't feel much alike; his were thinner, chapped, cooler than hers. But for the first time in his life, the rubber man was getting an – _urge_, in his lips and belly. It felt weird.

Wait.

He'd heard of something like this; a couple weeks ago – before Vera had even showed up – the Strawhat captain had been bored enough to wander into the library, looking for Robin. She had been reading a book, as per usual.

_**Luffy leaned over her shoulder. "Whatcha readin'?"**_

_**Robin didn't take her eyes off the text. "It's called a romance novel," she replied, turning a page. "It's about feelings of the heart."**_

"_**The heart?"**_

"_**Yes, the heart."**_

"_**Ahh…" Luffy peered down at the tiny, uniform lines of characters and started to read; he wasn't the best at reading books and he didn't understand a lot of the words in this one's thick, fancy prose – but what he could decipher made him question the author's state of mind (which most authors would find extremely offensive, considering). "Why are they kissing for so long?" he asked Robin, his eyes still on the page. "Sheesh, doesn't the guy have something better to do, like go on an adventure? And why are they talking about fireworks and electricity like it's a good thing? Wouldn't that hurt?" Robin set down the book and crossed her arms. "What's the big deal about kissing, it seems like such a waste of time –? H-Hey! What're you doing?! Why are you pushing me out the door? Hey!"**_

_**Luffy found himself neatly deposited out in the hallway by Robin's flowered appendages, hearing the door slam behind him and the **_**click**_** of the lock. He sat there for a moment to pout – but eventually got up, brushed off his butt, and wandered off to find Usopp – not giving the idea of kissing a second thought.**_

But now, oddly enough, Luffy was getting the urge to kiss. And… it was pretty powerful.

He looked at Vera again.

… _I want to know what this is all really about! _hedecided.

So Luffy cupped her cheeks and kissed her.

* * *

In her dream, Vera only stirred. _Mmm_… she sighed. _Niku_…

* * *

Luffy ran his tongue along her bottom lip – again, slightly disappointed that she didn't taste like the chocolate scent he'd come to identify her with.

But he gave their mouths a few more seconds of contact before he pulled away and took inventory of any spectacular physical anomalies. Of what he could tell, other than a slight tingling in his lips and a soft, warm glow in his belly, this mystery device called "kissing" hadn't even done anything to settle his butterflies, let alone cause any sort of sensation he would've remotely compared to fireworks or electricity. However _electricity_ felt; he was made of rubber, so he'd never know.

Luffy pouted at Vera's sleeping face, still clasped between his hands. "I still don't get what the big deal is!" he whined, disappointed.

"That's because she's asleep, you ignoramus pirate brat."

The Strawhat captain glanced up, up, up… to locate the source of that sarcastic alto-baritone. Sitting atop the curved roof of a two-story building across the way, Deiter Marsela – better known as "Mars," the stout, sturdy woman commander of the Gale Dancer's Guard with all the flexibility and charisma of a charging bull elephant – stripped off one of her bloodstained bandages with a wince and balled it up, black eyebrows furrowed over small, but intelligent brown eyes. "Honestly, I was aware you weren't the brightest bulb, Strawhat," she continued. The muscled lady chucked her crumpled bandage across the street; it bounced off Luffy's forehead. "But this takes it to a whole other level!"

Luffy blinked. "How long have you been sitting there?"

Mars massaged her aching muscle. "Long enough," she replied, tossing back her curtain of shimmering black hair. She was a young forty; scowl lines, but no greys yet. "But it was a more appealing spot when you both were asleep, I _must_ say!"

"Wait, so it's different when she's awake?"

"Did you not hear me?!"

"Yeah! You said I didn't do it right because she's asleep!" Luffy called back. His curiosity rekindled, the rubber man shook Vera's head and pinched her cheeks. "Yosh! Vera, wake up so I can try this again! Wake up, wake up!"

"_Take a hint_!" Mars yelled across the street. "Either get a room or go back to _sleep_!"

"Wake up, wake up!"

* * *

Vera's eyes flew wide open before she even really regained consciousness – then saw Luffy and sagged, half asleep again in less than a second. "Mmmmm…!" she groaned. "Wha you want –?"

"Ohayo!"

Vera glared drowsily at him. "Ohayo, my butt," she informed him. She yawned. "What time is it?"

Feeling warm, calloused pressure on either side of her face, she felt at her cheeks and found Luffy's hands. Her eyes flicked up to him. "Is this a dream?" she murmured. His features _were_ a little hazy. "What are you…?"

Suddenly, she realized.

Luffy was leaning in. Like he was about to –

_**KISS HER?!**_

"GAH!" In retrospect, Vera definitely could have handled it better. Maybe just calmly placed her hand between their mouths, or even accepted it, if she had her wits about her. But she panicked. So, with Matrix-worthy reflexes (extremely uncharacteristic of her very average motor skills), she evaded Luffy's face by preemptive attack.

That is, she tackled him like a football linebacker.

* * *

"WAH!" Luffy yelped in surprise when Vera shouted and threw her arms around his neck.

A hand automatically came up to brace her back. "Ah."

He hesitated for a moment – and then he smiled and hugged her back, baring all his teeth in a happy white grin. "Shishishishi! Yeah!" the rubber man snickered. "I like this better, too~!"

Mars slammed down her bandages. "That's it," she announced to the otherwise empty plaza. "I'm finding another spot to patch myself up!"

The prickly commander started to pack up her first aid, glaring at Strawhat's stupid grin and muttering to herself all the while. "This is _embarrassing_… twenty years ago, pirate captains struck fear and awe into the hearts of even old street fighters like me! Now they're prepubescent brats surviving on balls, not brains…"

She threw the kit over her shoulder and vaulted off the roof. "Oof. Kissing their whores in my streets!" she fumed, stalking off down the road. "Sheesh, I sound like my _father_…"

Mars's complaints faded with her footsteps – the last sound as the first rays of a blinding, beautiful fuchsia sunrise peered over the eastern horizon. Luffy smiled contentedly. He closed his eyes to feel the warmth and pulled Vera even closer, bring their bodies flush together. He still didn't fully understand this mysterious concept of "feelings of the heart," nor these soft glows and warm butterflies that were so strange and new to him, but… maybe, for a while, he could be okay with that.

Luffy squeezed her happily. He'd find out soon enough.

* * *

_Luffy randomly trying to kiss people?! Yeah, this is definitely a dream._

Blushing, Vera locked her chin stubbornly around his shoulder and closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to return. _More like a nightmare…_

* * *

Okay, maybe this might take a while.

**.**

* * *

**A/N: Dawwwwww~! Hope you liked! Leave a comment below or send your own request, and as always, don't forget to check out Brunetta6's SOCCP! X3**


	4. The Thistle from the Ice

**Friday update, yay! It's my first angsty prompt, and a Zoro and Vera one at that! Hopefully I did it justice. Enjoy, my ducklings! *blows kisses***

* * *

**Prompt 3**

**Title: "Thistle from the Ice"  
****Request by: Mugiwara Otome  
****Primary Characters: Zoro & Vera R.  
****Rating: T  
****Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Angst  
****Warnings: Slash themes, language, angst, and attempted suicide.**

**Summary: Before the pankeki party even took place, about half past midnight Vera wakes up from a nightmare only to think herself still in a dream. Distraught, she thinks to go to drastic measures… but never thought someone would be awake – and watching – who'd even bother to rescue her from herself. And neither did Zoro.**

**Location: Vera's Room, Thousand Sunny  
****Arc: Introductory Arc (Between Ch 7-8)**

**.oOo.**

_No… no no!_

"MOM!"

Vera sat up violently in bed, breast heaving and eyes rolling in their sockets as her brain made the disorienting transfer from dream to reality. The mindscape was gone. But instead of the familiar, comforting darkness of her house back in Maine – she found herself staring into pale moonlight, streaming through a porthole set in the opposite wall. The silent roar in her ears vanished all at once, and for a moment, it was completely quiet but for her heavy, labored breathing. Then, a chill registered; outside, snowflakes were falling. She could smell the sea, hear waves slapping against the hull, feel goosebumps on her skin.

She didn't even have to look around to confirm what she already knew. Snow in summer? The sea? The Sunny.

She was _still_ dreaming.

"Nooo…!" she moaned. Vera's heart plummeted as she collapsed back against her pillow, pressing her knuckles into her eyes until she saw stars. It had just been a nightmare – not even that scary under normal circumstances! But… to dream something like _that_ and then wake up to _this_? Maybe her brain was trying to tell her something.

Vera rolled onto her side, looking at the picture of her family she'd drawn that afternoon, folded up on her nightstand.

Heat gathered behind her eyes.

She missed them. She missed them a _lot_.

Her dad, her big sister, her little sister, her dog… but especially her mom, right now. Vera closed her eyes, lips curving into a gentle smile as memories of her childhood bubbled to the surface. When she was little and had just moved into her first "big girl" bed, she'd had nightmares at least twice a week for _months_ – ranging from the falling dream to the forever-running dream to being eaten by monsters to having to do show-and-tell naked in front of her entire class – but no matter how late it was or how ridiculous the dream was, her mom somehow always knew.

_**More than a dozen years ago, a little girl sat up in bed, crying and trembling after waking from a particularly scary nightmare. "M-Mommy…!" she wailed.**_

"_**Yes?"**_

_**Five-year old Vera sniffed tearfully and looked up, the lump in her throat softening instantly at the sight of her beautiful mother leaning against the door frame. Even in her late thirties, Laura Rosethorne was a gorgeous woman, with silky copper skin, elegant bone structure, and thick, luscious brown curls that fell past her waist… back then, just barely streaked with silver. That night, she had worn a white silk babydoll, overrobe, and slippers. With her soft, wise, green-blue eyes the color of a tropical sea – and the light from the hallway crowning her with a hazy, golden corona of peace and beauty – Vera truly thought of her mother as an angel of mercy that night. "What's wrong, honey?" the woman whispered. With a knowing smile, she crossed the room and wiped away a tear from her little daughter's cheek. "Did you have a scary dream?"**_

_**Vera hiccupped. "Mm hm!"**_

"_**Oh, holy crap." Thirteen-year old Vange threw the covers off her head and glared exasperatedly at her baby (Eva hadn't even been conceived yet) sister. "Mom, isn't it bad enough I have to share a room with this crybaby **_**without**_** her waking up screaming every single night?!" she complained. "I want my own room!"**_

"_**Shhh…" **_

_**Laura gathered up a teary Vera in her arms. "Be nice to your sister, Evangeline. She's only five," their mother replied, carrying her youngest daughter back into the hallway. "Go back to sleep."**_

_**Vange muttered something that sounded a lot like "Yeah, and I'm only thirteen. I have my own needs, you know!" and buried herself in her bedsheets again. Meanwhile, Vera clung to her mommy's neck, her plump little face both indignant and sad as she was carried into the kitchen. She got those comments from her big sister all the time. They hurt her feelings! If she wasn't a big girl, Mommy and Daddy wouldn't have given her a big girl bed! she had thought. But the hurt went away – like it always did – when Laura poured some milk into a saucepan and set it over a burner, adding cinnamon, sugar, and a bit of cloves when it began to steam. Vera inhaled the scent greedily, a warm sense of home filling her up from head to toe; she squirmed impatiently until Laura's "nightmare remedy" was finished. Then Laura carried both her and the saucepan to the table, Vera scrambled into her big girl chair, and clapped her hands while her mother poured the hot spiced milk into two cups… adding a tablespoon of cocoa mix to Vera's, just how she liked it.**_

_**Laura sat down, sipping at her mug and watching her daughter gulp greedily at her own. "All better?" she asked after a few minutes.**_

_**Vera smacked down the empty cup, burped, and smiled – all her baby teeth gleaming happily under an impressive milk moustache. "Yeah!"**_

_**Her mom chuckled and wiped her child's lip with a napkin. "Now, what do we say when we burp?"**_

"'_**Scuse me," Vera chirped obediently.**_

_**With that, she slid out of her seat and scrambled up into Laura's. Arms wrapped around her as she rested her head between her mother's breasts – so she could hear her heartbeat. "Will you sing me a lullaby, Mommy?"**_

_**Laura smiled. "All right."**_

_**She cuddled her closer and began to sing. **_

"_Little child, be not afraid.  
__Though rain pounds harshly against the glass  
__like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger.  
__I am here tonight…"_

_**Vera smiled as she listened, already feeling warm and drowsy. She was convinced her mommy had the best singing voice in the whole wide world. Laura continued: **_

"_Little child, be not afraid.  
__Though thunder explodes and lightning flash.  
__Illuminates your tear-stained face."_

_**She brushed away the last of the wetness on Vera's cheeks. **__"I am here tonight."_

"_And someday you'll know~!  
__that nature is so~!  
__The same rain that draws you near me  
__falls on rivers and land~!  
__on forests and sand~!  
__Makes the beautiful world that you'll see…  
__in the morning…"_

_**The wind blew outside, howling around the corners of the houses. Vera squeaked and hugged tighter. Laura just stroked her hair, and kept singing. **__"Little child, be not afraid.  
_"_Though storm clouds mask your beloved moon,  
__and its candlelight beams, still keep pleasant dreams."_

_**Her child relaxed in her arms. **__ "I am here tonight…"_

_**She smiled peacefully and began to shift her arms around Vera, to support her baby girl's hindquarters in preparation to lift her. **__"Little child, be not afraid!  
__Though wind makes creatures of our trees,  
__and their branches to hands, they're not real, understand.  
__and I am here tonight._

"_And someday you'll know~!  
__that nature is so~!  
__The same rain that draws you near me  
__falls on rivers and land~!  
__on forests and sand~!  
__Makes the beautiful world that you'll see…  
__in the morning…"_

_**Laura paused, humming into Vera's ear. **__"For you know, once even I was a…"_

_**She picked her up. **__"Little child."_

_**The young mother pressed a kiss against her sleepy toddler's hair. **__"And I was afraid."_

_**She began to make her way back down the hall. Her slippered feet glided along the carpet, gentle and quiet as a ghost… so she wouldn't disturb the child that had buried her nose in her greying hair and was quickly falling asleep. **__"But a gentle someone always came,  
__to dry all my tears, trade sweet sleep for fears.  
__And to give a kiss goodnight."  
_"_Well now I am grown~!  
__and these years have shown~!  
__that rain's a part of how life goes  
__but it's dark and it's late~!  
__so I'll hold you and wait~!  
__'til your frightened eyes do close."_

_**Vera, mostly unconscious by now, joined in with her murmuring, off-key childlike voice. **__"And I hope that you'll know..._

_that nature is so…  
__The same rain that draws you near me.  
__falls on rivers and land~!  
__on forests and sand~!  
__Makes the beautiful world that you'll see…  
__in the morning…"_

_**They entered Vange's room. **__"Everything's fine in the morning…"_

_**Laura set her down, now the only one singing. **__"The rain'll be gone in the morning… But I'll still be here in the morning…" _

_**She pulled up the covers and brushed her lips against her baby girl's cheek, who was now sound asleep with a happy, contented look on her face.**__**"Good night, precious," Laura whispered, and left as quietly as she had come. "See you tomorrow."**_

A hot, harsh tear raced down Vera's cheek. She scrubbed roughly at her eyes, trying to catch it before it could wet her pillow – but more followed, too many to block. The girl flipped over to bury her face in the bedclothes, muffling the strangled sounds that escaped her throat. She hated crying. But what she wouldn't give to hear her mother's voice now.

What she wouldn't give to wake up.

Suddenly, Vera paused. _Wait a second._

The girl sniffed and swiped at her cheeks one last time, then threw back the covers and planted her bare feet on the cold wooden floor. It really was cold; she was only wearing a tank top and silk shorts for her pajamas. She pattered over to the porthole, staring into the light so her eyes would adjust faster. _I woke up from those old nightmares by pinching myself! _she realized. _Normally you can't feel pain in dreams… _

Vera pinched the tender skin of her forearm and winced. _But I think we've established I'm under pretty deep this time. _

She released her arm, looking out on the moonlit ocean.

The seed of an idea began to sprout in her mind. _Maybe I just need more of a shock…_

Slowly, she backed away from the window – then abruptly sprinted out the door, bare feet thudding on the floor as she took right after left, following the rough blueprint of the Thousand Sunny she'd outlined during her period of obsession with the ship's drawings on Wikipedia. She made a few wrong turns, but eventually, she made it to the brig. The brunette opened the door and walked right in; no one was being kept prisoner, so no reason to lock it. But in the corner, covered with dust, Vera finally found what she was looking for. A ball and chain. Its shackle open and ready for use.

_Perfect._

She went to grab it…

* * *

Zoro swung his weight down.

"Nine hundred ninety six," he grunted, raising the huge iron dumbbell over his head to continue his rep. "Nine hundred ninety seven. Nine hundred ninety eight…"

Snow fell gently outside, delicate flakes warmed to gold by the light of the crow's nest – the swordsman's sanctuary a blazing beacon above the drowsy darkness of the rest of the Sunny. The other members of the crew had been sleep for a while now. However, Zoro (of _all_ people!) had been suffering from a rare case of sleeplessness and had finally given up after half an hour of staring at the ceiling, stalking out of the men's quarters in favor of the weight room to work off his insomnia.

"One thousand."

Zoro set the dumbbell down with a metallic _thud_ and exhaled in frustration. He rubbed the lump atop his head; a present of the ero-cook, placed there after the swordsman had been ambushed in the shower, voyuerized, and forced to streak butt-naked across the ship. If that wouldn't make a guy paranoid, Zoro didn't know what could. The marimo growled and sat on the bench, pulling his haramaki over his head.

"It's all because of that _chijo_ that I can't sleep!" Zoro muttered to himself.

He viciously adjusted the garment around his abdomen, slipping his sword's sheaths into the loop, then thrusting his arms into the sleeves of his long green robe and adjusted them as well, glaring at Little Roronoa all the while. "_Your_ master!"

"Little Roronoa" was an exquisitely detailed plushie that Vera – or as Zoro called her, the "chijo" – had had in her possession when the Strawhats had fished her out of the sea. It was an eerie semblance of the marimo swordsman from two years before, before his trip to the Muggy Kingdom; white short-sleeved shirt, green haramaki, three swords, and both eyes. Its plump little arms were crossed, and its flat, unamused, slightly drowsy expression was so similar to Zoro's, it even creeped the fearless Santoryuu swordsman out a bit when he had first seen it. The swords at its hip looked like they'd been detached from a keychain. They were removable from their sheaths, but Zoro knew from experience they were tiny tin blades no longer than hairpins and only sharper.

The doll seemed to glare back from its place on the windowsill. _Quit using me as an outlet_, the swordsman imagined it would say. _You're the one who's scared of her._

"Who's scared of that pansy?!" Zoro barked.

Then, he hesitated – and looked out the window. "But…"

Zoro braced his hands on his knees and stood, crossing the room to the window. He rested his forehead against it – relishing the chill of the freezing pane against his hot, sweaty skin. "She does freak me out," he confessed aloud. "Her being a total pervert is bad enough…"

The swordsman gazed down on the darkened lawn, brows furrowed in frustration. "But I can't get a read on her."

His fist thumped against the pane. "Not even with Observation Haki!" he whispered. "Yesterday morning, when she dodged Onigiri, I never saw it coming. And that's when I realized… I can't tell what she's thinking, what she's doing, or even something as basic as _where_ she is – believe me, I've tried! But she's invisible. Even now. And it creeps me out."

_Luffy seems to like her._

"Of course he does," Zoro replied bitterly. "She's different. She's dangerous."

_Don't you like danger?_

"Not when I can't fight against it…" he growled, glaring down at the deck – the grass was now dusted with snowflakes, hiding its green under a thin blanket of white ice. His breath fogged up on the glass, and snow continued to fall. "And, well, we both know Luffy. He'll ask her to be our nakama sooner or later. I should be used to it by now. Knowing that, you plush prick, I'm sure as hell not _scared_ of –!"

Suddenly, down in the darkness, Zoro saw a door open.

The Santoryuu swordsman straightened in surprise. _Didn't everyone go to sleep?_ _Who is that?_

He waited, watching the black threshold warily. For what seemed like an eternity, he stared into darkness. No one came through.

Then… he caught a glimpse of wild brown hair.

Zoro choked and scrambled back so fast he nearly fell on his bum. "Holy _shit_, it's her!" he panicked, reaching for a sword.

Little Roronoa seemed to smirk. _Not scared of her, huh? Ya sure?_

"Shut up!"

Zoro got a hold of Wado Ichimonji. Crouching, he scurried back over to the window and put his back against the wall, a ready hand on his white sword as he slowly, cautiously, peered over the sill. He was almost expecting to see a pair of dark eyes gleaming lecherously at him from just beyond the glass – if that had been the case, he might have yowled and smashed straight through the ceiling like some kind of demonic cat.

But… what he actually saw made him pause, and look again.

Zoro straightened. "What the…?"

He pressed his fingertips against the glass, peering down at the chijo. She was dragging… _something_ across the deck. It didn't look all that big from up here, but Zoro could see the weight of it left a dark furrow in the snowfall, drawing a black line all the way across the lawn. Finally, she reached the banister; the swordsman watched incredulously as she hooked those tiny little fingers around the weight and – with a heave he could feel all the way from the crow's nest – managed to get it on top of the banister. She nodded, seeming satisfied.

"Is that the ball and chain from the brig?" Zoro wondered aloud, raising his eyebrows. "What is she _doing_?"

He squinted. "And why is she wearing those skimpy clothes in this kind of weather?" What he wouldn't give to read her mind, now.

* * *

_Hooooooly CRAP, IT'S COLD!_

Vera blew into her hands, rubbed them together – trying not to notice how her breath crystallized in the frigid air – and brushed some snow off her silk shorts. She probably should have grabbed a coat before she came out here… but in her mind, the cold would provide even more of a shock and hopefully get the job done even faster. Not to say her extremities hadn't already gone completely numb. Which they had.

Vera peered over her iron ballast into the sea.

That looked really cold, too.

She stopped looking.

The dark-eyed girl sighed and began to pace back and forth through the snowy blanket, anxiety evident in her voice as she rubbed her arms in an attempt to generate some heat. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea…" she muttered to herself. "I mean, maybe I should just wait to wake up. But then again, this could be like, the third level in Inception and I could be down here twenty years before that happens! Yes, no, yes, no? Ahhh! I dunno."

Then she stopped dead in her tracks. "You know, you're being stupid!" she told herself. "I mean, what's the worst that could happen? Just do it before you start chickening out again!"

She put one foot up on the railing. The beds of her toenails were completely blue by now; she sucked it up and picked up the shackle.

Vera exhaled. "Hooo… okay."

She closed it around her ankle. _Snap_.

* * *

Zoro started. _Wait! Don't tell me she's actually trying to –?!_

"Oi!" he yelled. He pounded his fist against the glass, trying to get her attention. "Stop! What do you think you're –?!"

* * *

The brunette put both feet up on the railing and crouched like Spiderman. "Alright. This might be scary and painful," she muttered. "But remember, just one big breath and it'll all be over."

She bounced nervously on the balls of her feet. "Here we go. Three…"

* * *

"SsssHIT!"

Zoro pushed himself away from the window, dashing for the trapdoor… no, he didn't have enough time for the stairs! _Well how else am I gonna get down?! _he panicked. _ It's not like I can just bust right through the –!_

He nearly smacked himself in the face. _Oh, DUH!_

The swordsman took a few steps back from the window, then a few more. He would need a running start; he remembered Franky saying those panes were bullet-proof. Or was it missile-proof?

* * *

Vera braced her palm on the heavy iron sphere; that thing would need its own push. "Two…"

* * *

He ran, jumped, and smashed through the window. Either way, they weren't Zoro-proof.

The marimo hit the snow solidly – light and glass shards raining down around him as he immediately lunged for the railing – Wado flashing in his right hand, his left one extended to snatch the figure off the ledge and give her the wakeup call of a lifetime.

* * *

"One…!"

She pushed the ball off the banister and jumped.

* * *

Zoro grit his teeth, reaching as hard as he could…

And missed by a _millimeter_.

* * *

Hitting the frigid water all at once was like getting punched in the gut. Most of the reserved breath that Vera had held out of habit exploded out into the dark, silent ocean. Without thinking, she clapped her hands over her mouth – to prevent any more of her precious air from escaping – and struck out with her feet. It was nothing but a reflex; an involuntary action when a strong swimmer finds themselves out of breath underwater. But forgetting even for a second about the ball and chain was a fatal mistake. In that moment, realizing that over fifty pounds of iron was dragging her down into the cold, murky depths… her mind went blank of all rational thought, replaced by a deafening roar of panic. Any possibility of gracefully drowning went out the window. Her face went bone white. She started to hyperventilate.

* * *

Zoro slammed against the banister. "Shit!" he yelled, and dove over the edge.

* * *

_OH GOD, NO NO NO NO NO! I CHANGED MY MIND! I DON'T WANNA DIE! HELP ME! SOMEBODY! _

Vera struggled violently against the water, sheer terror filling her up. Why, no, _how_ in the world had she managed to be so stupid?! Getting out of here wasn't worth this! It wasn't worth the pain or the fear or the pressure or the darkness or the _cold_! Her lungs bruised and on fire. Goosebumps about to snap through her skin like some old rubber band. Oh her skin felt like _ice_..!

Suddenly, in the shafts of moonlight streaming from the surface, she spotted a human figure swimming toward her.

As it got closer, Vera recognized Zoro. She nearly cried out to him before she remembered she was underwater – then she saw one of his katana gleaming in his hands. Dimly realizing what he was about to do, she forced her body to curl into a ball, trying to make less of a target of herself as Zoro unleashed a flying slice through the water. It cut the shackle. For an alarming moment, utter darkness flickered, with no way to tell which way was up. Then, Vera felt a man's arm encircle her and squeeze tight.

Unable to hold it any longer, she released her breath and sucked water.

* * *

The swordsman _felt_ her windpipe seize. _Damn!_

He flipped around and swam as fast as he could for the surface, leaving the sphere of heavy iron and its length of chain to plummet – alone – into the deep.

It only took a few moments.

"PAH!" Zoro burst back into moonlight and drifting snow. The girl he had clasped against him spewed seawater, coughing so hard he half-expected her stomach to come up; the swordsman threw Wado in a calculated toss. The blade sheathed its tip in the icy green grass, its beautiful edge shining patiently in the moonlight as he pulled both him and the chijo over the railing after it and collapsed in an ungraceful, soaking tangle of limbs onto the deck.

Zoro lay there for a second, panting madly… then filled his lungs and sat up.

"ARE YOU FRICKING CRAZY?!" he bellowed, aiming a furious look at the chijo shivering in his lap. "You trying to give somebody a _heart_ attack?! If this is some way of repenting for peeping on me in the shower, there are better ways to go about it! What would've happened if I wasn't awake to save your sorry ass?! Eh?! You'd be fish food, that's what!"

She finally stopped coughing. Her chest heaved. Droplets of icy water flew off Zoro's body with the force of his fury, smacking her already trembling body. "_Idiot_!"

The swordsman inhaled again to start a fresh round of verbal abuse…

But then, the trembling girl said one word.

* * *

"Kowaii…"

* * *

Zoro froze.

* * *

"That was _so_ _scary_…!" Vera sobbed. "I was so _stupid_…!"

The girl drew a shuddering breath. The cold bit into her very bones, like tendrils of ice were slowly creeping over her tight, bloodless skin and digging their way in with needle-like heads, permeating her with a burning chill worse than the fire that consumed her throat. The only warmth she could feel was streaming down her cheeks. She knew she was crying. But just this once, she felt like she had an obligation to do so. She curled up, trying to preserve the last of her body heat – even as she dissolved into a pitiful ball of shivering and tears – shamelessly weeping into the snow. "I-I just thought… if I could just inhale enough water in one shot, it'd be quick? Painless? I didn't know! I don't know anymore, I just want _out_…! _Onegai_?

"I JUST WANT IT TO BE PAINLESS!" she screamed at the sky. "IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?!"

* * *

The swordsman stared, silently appalled at seeing such a vulnerable side of this girl. He had thought she was only capable of things like her spastic, unreadable rages. Happiness, anger, lechery… but not tears, not sadness. Not fear.

Zoro closed his mouth. _She was __**really**__ scared, wasn't she?_

* * *

Vera slumped back over.

"'Beautiful world that you see in the morning?'" she whispered. "What a _joke_…"

She hugged her knees to her chest, feeling more like a five-year old than she had in a long, long time. She was cold, confused, angry, and scared. She just wanted a way out… but she saw none. None that weren't painful or terrifying or both. That's it!

Dead end. She was stuck here for good.

At least, that's what she thought.

Until a metallic gleam in her peripherals caught her eye. Vera raised her head, staring wide-eyed at the shining white blade of Wado Ichimonji. That edge had just cut iron a second ago. That meant it had to be very, very sharp.

Another seed began to sprout in her brain. "It might be a dead end for _me_…" she mused.

She turned her neck to look at Zoro. "But _you_ could do it, couldn't you?"

The swordsman stiffened, taken aback by the light in her eyes.

Vera sniffed, scrubbing at her eyes again. "I mean… y-you wanted to do it when we first m-met, r-r-right?" she whispered. "T-T-That Oni Giri? If… if I hadn't, y-you know, dodged it! You would've cleaved me from head to toe back then and we wouldn't have this problem NOW!"

* * *

Zoro's eye widened as he felt her diaphragm seize. Her breath began to come erratically, giggles bubbling up from her stomach and exploding in her shuddering lungs. He wasn't Chopper, but even a musclehead like him could tell when someone was going into shock.

"O-Oi!" The marimo yanked off his long green coat and wound it around her. He pressed her against his chest – rubbing her arms, her back, anything to help her get warm. "H-Hold on!" he told her. "Calm down. Um…"

Even though his countenance was stoic as always, the swordsman was panicking on the inside. She was so _cold_. And her bones were so delicate; he felt like if he touched her too hard, he might accidentally break one. _I've never been in a situation like this before!_ he thought frantically. _Shit, what am I supposed to do if someone goes into shock, again? Ah… keep them talking, that's right! And speak calmly. Damn! How am I supposed to stay calm?!_

"What was that about Oni Giri?" he asked, trying to keep his voice level as possible. "You mean the one from yesterday?"

* * *

"D-Dream…!" she gasped. Her shivers were becoming uncontrollable, her fingernails digging into his chest hard enough to pierce a normal person's skin. "It's all just a dream…!"

* * *

Zoro grew still.

_Dream?_

Slowly turning his head, he tried to get a look at her expression – but ended up pressing his cheek against her hair, instead. _Does she… does _really_ she think she's in a dream?_ he wondered, disbelieving. _But it would explain this afternoon, now that I think about it._

_**Ensnared in the ripping current of a New World cyclone, the swordsman jumped as he felt a light touch on his leg. He glanced down at the chijo; she was pale as a ghost, staring up at him with dark, half-drowned eyes. A trail of bubbles escaped from the corner of her mouth. Her expression was deathly afraid, agonized, and instinctively desperate, yet somehow calm enough to be described as… **_**relieved**_**. That face rang a bell somewhere in Zoro's brain. It was a face he had made in his sleep, he realized, many times as a child. When he was about to die in a dream… but he knew it was okay, because he knew he would just wake up.**_

Zoro's mouth tightened into a grim line, cogs turning in his head as he tried to think – but how could he convince a person so willing to believe that they were dreaming that they weren't? _I could just tell her, but there's no guarantee she'd understand me… and even if she did, isn't that exactly what a person in a dream would say?_

As he'd thought, there was only one way to do this.

Zoro closed his eyes… and took a long, slow breath.

"Fine."

* * *

"Iyo."

Vera's shivers abruptly stopped.

Her fists clenched on his shoulder. "I-Iyo?" she repeated tremulously, absolutely stunned that he would agree. "Hontou?"

* * *

Zoro gripped her thin, trembling shoulders through his coat and helped her stand, his gaze not for a second leaving her wide, scared brown eyes; he made sure her quavering legs were enough to support her before letting go.

"Go stand over there."

The swordsman bent down to pick up Wado – breaking their eye contact for a few moments to sheathe it – and walked a few steps toward the aft. He turned to face her again… a frightened young woman, wearing his robe, bone white with cold and face bloodless with fear, stared back at him. Dark eyes wide and disbelieving. Zoro could see every snowflake on her eyelashes and in her hair, melting into crystal beads even as he watched. Like a marble sculpture, sprinkled with diamonds…

Internally, the marimo shook himself. He couldn't afford to get distracted by a pretty metaphor. If he was going to do this, he needed absolute focus.

"Stay still," he told her.

Then he gripped the hilt of his white sword, and redrew it.

* * *

The metallic hiss of a sword being drawn.

_Oh, __**shoot**__!_

Vera screwed her eyes shut. _C-Calm down! I-It's stupid to be scared now!_ she told herself, trying to shut out the panic that threatened to overwhelm her. _This is so much better! Drowning's a long and painful way to die! Zoro's a master swordsman! And he doesn't like me, either! Hopefully h-he'll cut off my head, make it quick… I just really _really_ hope he doesn't just slice my wrists and let me bleed out or stab me or… Ooooh, shoooooot…!_

* * *

Zoro closed his one remaining eye, grimacing with distaste. This kind of thing wasn't like him. He didn't want to do this. If he wanted to, he could just walk away – and for a moment, his conviction wavered; maybe he should. And maybe he would have.

But then, he looked again… seeing the trail of Vera's tears freezing on her cheeks.

Something steeled inside the swordsman.

* * *

Vera tensed. _Here it comes…!_

* * *

And he slashed. Twice.

* * *

The girl squeaked and shrank back involuntarily as she felt a razor wind slice in front of her face. A mosquito bite of pain lanced up her arm.

Wait.

Vera blinked. Her arm?

Hesitantly – and with some difficulty, due to her heart drumming so hard her entire body shook with each pulse – she pried her fingers loose from Zoro's coat and held them before her, examining the limb in question with wide eyes. There, on her left forearm… a mark. A mark smaller and even more delicate than a paper cut, so precisely place it could only be seen because of the tiny beads of blood, which coagulated on her chilled skin even as she watched.

A shallow X.

Vera was stunned. "Kore wa…?"

* * *

"This is…?"

"Stop crying. It's annoying."

Zoro raised Wado Ichimonji again, checking that the tip of her blade was clean of the otherworlder's blood. "And do us all a favor and quit your suicidal tendencies," he told her. "Look, I don't know if you know what that mark means…"

Satisfied, he sheathed the sword with a resounding _clink_. "Or if you even care."

_**Two years ago, on the shores of a desert kingdom, Luffy had grinned. "All right!" their captain announced. He showed them all the X he had made on his forearm; they all had a similar mark. "At any rate, no matter what happens, this thing on our left arm is the sign of our friendship!"**_

"But the captain likes you, all right?" Zoro said bitterly.

The marimo averted his eye off to the side; he felt almost embarrassed about being this nice. "And he's probably going to ask you to be our nakama soon, anyway, so… it's not that big a deal. Don't think this changes my mind about you or anything, though. You're still a filthy, mutant chijo, and _I _sure as hell don't like you! But if you're gonna be one of our crew, I might as well start getting used to it. Right?"

No response.

Zoro flicked his gaze back up to Vera – who was staring at the nick he'd made in her flesh like it was going to leap off her arm and bite her nose. "_Right_?"

* * *

Vera jumped. "What? Oh, uh, hai! Right. Wait. No. No, I have no idea what you said." And Zoro apparently had no idea what she was saying either.

But…

At the sight of that Strawhat X, traced in darkening red on her arm… Vera didn't feel any confusion, or sadness, or pain anymore. It was as if the clouds had lifted. The brunette felt a smile tugging at her lips, brought on by the warm, fuzzy feeling that bloomed in her breast.

* * *

Zoro narrowed his eye at her for a few seconds, but finally decided she was being sincere. "…Fine."

The marimo ran a hand through his hair and yawned. He crossed the lawn; not noticing the mischievous glint that had suddenly returned to Vera's eyes. "Damn, I'm tired now!" he exclaimed, stretching sleepily as he passed her. "And I gotta go nail a board over that window, too… _**HOLY**_ –?!"

Without warning, the chijo had pounced on him, wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck, and hung there like a spider monkey.

"Aw, HELL NO!" the swordsman yelled. He pushed at her torso hesitantly; too afraid he would break one of those delicate little ribs to really put anything into it. Zoro wasn't a touchy-feely guy, and being hugged by the chijo set off so many alarm bells on so many levels, it wasn't even funny. "GET OFF! I mean it!"

* * *

Vera just smiled. "You're not bad at all, are you?" she purred in his ear.

* * *

Chills ran down Zoro's back that had nothing to do with the temperature. "You damn chijo, I am _not_ _kidding_!" he yelled.

* * *

"You did this much for me already!" the brunette pointed out. She smirked and tapped her forearm, even if he couldn't see it. "Not to mention you injured me."

She wrapped her arms back around his neck. "The least you can do is carry me back to my room!"

* * *

"Your room?!" Zoro repeated. "Chijo, do you actually think you can _tell_ me where to –?!"

"Room~!" she insisted.

The swordsman sucked in a breath to tell her off… then released it. He glared resignedly over her shoulder. _Geez, she's acting like a little kid now! _he thought. Exasperated, he spat out a lock of her hair and hitched her legs tighter around his waist, making sure she wouldn't fall off before he started walking. _That's why I don't do stuff like this! They always take advantage of me._

It was difficult navigating the Sunny at night, even without carrying a seventeen-year old girl on his chest – not to mention he'd never been to Vera's room before. He kept making wrong turns. One time, he even ended up back on the lawn deck. But finally, Zoro found the right one. The door was slightly ajar… so he nudged it open, walked into the room, and dropped her on the bed. Vera immediately scurried under the covers, attracted to the warmth like a bee to honey. The swordsman watched her, impatiently waiting for her to settle. It took a solid minute to do so – but finally, she found a position she liked – and popped her head out from under the covers to smile at him.

* * *

"Sing me a lullaby?" Vera asked playfully.

* * *

**TRANSLATOR'S NOTE: "Dorīmu" (dream), "riaru" (real), "rūmu" (room), and "rarabai" (lullaby) are all words that sound almost exactly the same whether they are spoken in English or Japanese, which explains how Zoro could understand these phrases without a translator.**

* * *

Zoro tossed his head indignantly. "Tch! Lullaby?" he scoffed, stomping huffily back to the door. "What are you, five years old? It's past midnight! Go to sleep."

"Oi, Zoro!"

The swordsman turned around. "_What_?!"

* * *

Vera hesitated – feeling an odd echo of emotion at the sight of his silhouette, cast in golden relief against the light streaming in from the hall.

"Thank you," she said, giving him a sweet and genuine smile.

* * *

"I'm not singing you anything!" Zoro barked, uncomprehending. "Just go to sleep already!"

* * *

He slammed the door behind him. Vera could hear him marching away, muttering to himself; she laughed for a bit, but quickly sobered and curled up in her lovely warm covers. All kidding aside, she _was_ grateful for what he had done for her. He could have left her to suffer, but akin to spring, he had rescued her… burst through the chill of fear, of hopelessness, and dared to brave those snows to become her hope. Zoro certainly wasn't the regal, beautiful flower of her mother, though. Certainly not! Nah, he was something pricklier, hardier. Green.

_A thistle! _

She giggled. It was actually pretty funny, the mental picture that summoned up; Zoro's grouchy face on the thorny green head of a milk thistle. _He's my thistle._

"See you tomorrow…" she whispered.

Vera closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep. _My thistle from the ice…_

_**.**_

* * *

**A/N: The lyrics of Laura's song are from Vienna Teng's "Lullaby for a Stormy Night," just so you know. Go listen to it, it's so beautiful and touching! Zoro was so good in this, too~! He's really not bad, is he? He's just badass! I actually teared up a little from writing this…**

***sniffs really loud and long* Ah! That's better.**

**Well, I hope you liked it! I'm actually kinda hoping for a Sanji x Vera prompt next, so I can balance it all out. HINT HINT. And as always! Leave a comment or a request below, favorite or follow, whatever you want! And don't forget to check out Slightly Overdone Chocolate Chip Pancakes (SOCCP) by Brunetta6!**

**Until next time, my fanfiction ducklings! Hasta pronto! X3**


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